Introduction
When the issue of Nigeria educational system
today is raised, the first sets of thoughts that
comes to mind are: decline in standard,
deterioration of facilities, examination malpractices,
mass promotion syndrome and the like before any
other thing else. This calls for an in-depth study
and analysis aimed at tutoring each and every
stakeholders in the education system on how their
actions and inactions have individually and
collectively contributed to the collapsing state of
education in Nigeria. In any case, knowledge and
skill acquisition which education is all about
cannot be over emphasized. According to the
World Bank (1999: 25), “successful development
entails more than investing in physical capital, or
closing the gap in capital. It also entails acquiring
and using knowledge as well as closing the gaps
in knowledge”. Thus, to successfully confront the
challenges of development, a developing country
must undertake three major tasks:
* Acquired and adapt global knowledge and
create knowledge locally.
* Invest in human capital to increase the ability
to absorb and use knowledge; and
* Invest in technologies to facilitate both
acquisition and the absorption of knowledge.
Similarly, Fafunwa (1979:26) defines
education as “the aggregate of all the processes
The Essay on Major Educational Challenges Assessment for Kenya Education System
... Then schools should also take responsibilities for sex knowledge education which most children could not receive at home. ... the population lives in. These cities includes Nairobi the Capital, Nakuru, Kericho, Kisumu, Eldoret, Kakamega, Meru and Mombasa. ... be invested for better teachers, better infrastructures in public schools. Strengthen subsidy usage supervision – Kenyan Ministry of Education ...
by which a child or adult develops the abilities,
attitudes and other forms of behaviour which
are of positive value to the society in which he
lives, that is to say, it is a process of disseminating
knowledge either to ensure social control
or to guarantee rational direction of the society
or both.”
Going by these explanation as to what
education is, in relation to the state of education
and its process in the country today as well as
the attitude of its providers-Government at all
levels and private investors; one with interest
will be compelled to ask such questions as what
has actually gone wrong considering the
enormity of its effect on the output from the
system in the area of productivity and the degree
of acceptance in the labour market and
educational institutions, especially outside the
country. Response however, will be its militating
factors stemming from the incidence of
examination malpractice – poor facilities –
indiscriminate mass promotion syndrome in
schools. The causes of these could be traced to
(i) Government insensitivity to education needs
(ii) Government and private institutions open
encouragement of low productivity and (iii) the
lack of the spirit of hard-work among growing
number of students. Attempts will be made in
this paper to examine the aforementioned
problems and mitigations suggested.
© Kamla-Raj 2007 J. Soc. Sci., 14(1): 81-86 (2007)
Educational System in Nigeria Problems and Prospects
L. O. Odia1 and S.I Omofonmwan 2
1. Universal Welfare Sustainable Community Development Center,
Benin City, Nigeria
2. Department of Geography and Planning, Ambrose Alli University,
Ekpoma, Nigeria
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
KEYWORDS Education; problems; prospects; standards; research and development
ABSTRACT This paper examines the problems and prospects of education in Nigeria. Education is the bedrock of
development. But unfortunately Education in Nigeria is bisected with myriad’s of problems. These includes; poor
The Essay on Problems affecting nigeria
Nigeria is a country of diverse people, cultures, religion and political groups. The country achieved independence from the British colonialist in 1960. The country marked 54 years post-independence on October 1st 2013. The journey so far has not been an entire smooth one since independence. The country has had to face several challenges and problem. It is becoming a laughing matter anytime ...
funding and thus poor educational infrastructures, inadequate classrooms, teaching aids (projectors, Computers,
Laboratories and libraries), paucity of quality teachers and poor / polluted learning environment. In addition to these
inadequacies, our school system is plagued with numerous social vices such as examination malpractices, cultism,
hooliganism and corruption. For meaningful development to take place in the educational sector; the government
need to re-address the issue of funding. Private educational investors, teachers! Parents/guidance and students/pupils
need a reorientation towards achieving the goals of education. Also education must be made affordable for all and
sundry. The current monolistic approach to knowledge acquisition must be changed. Technical education and innovation/
adaptation centers must be encouraged and well funded, if this nation must move out of this present technological and
scientific dependence. Government and the organized private sector must as well fund research programmes, inventions
and mass production of invented products.
82 L. O. ODIA AND S.I OMOFONMWAN
PROBLEMS OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
Poor Preparation and Malpractices
Experts in the education sector has been able
to identify examination malpractices with poor
preparation of students for an examination, and
lack of self confidence. In view of the rising costs
of education (school fees, enrolment fees, cost
of books and other materials) students and even
their parents will not ordinarily want to be held
back by any form of deficit or failure in any of the
required subjects, hence will go to any length to
ensure success.
In some cases, some teachers at the
secondary school level are involved by way of
encouraging students to contribute money
(cooperation fees) in order to secure the needed
assistance during such examinations because
they, the teachers are left with no other alternative
considering the fact that they are aware of the
The Essay on To What Extent Should High School Students Be Allowed To
To What Extent Should High School Students be allowed to Exercise Freedom of Speech While on Campus I think that nowadays to deal with an issue of students free speech rights is a tough problem for High School administrators. The matter is that students free speech is protected by the First Amendment. Thus it means that students are allowed to exercise free speech while on campus. But what should ...
inadequate preparation of their students as well
as the lack of facilities to get them properly
prepared before examination.
Interview with 50 school heads in Benin City,
reveals that more than 50% of our secondary
school students on annual basis choose to enroll
and write their final year external examination in
schools in the interior and some private schools
where they are very sure of success at the end of
the day.
In 1996, the military government in Edo State
sent home secondary school teachers that have
served 28 years and above as well as those that
were recruited in 1991 and after, few weeks before
final year examination. Some schools were left
with one teacher and a security man. And a near
replication of same happened in the year 2000,
this time for those that have served 28years and
above. This is how the government indirectly
legitimized irregularities in schools that is today
unabated. Today the paucity of teachers in our
secondary and primary schools, indicate that the
state is yet to fully recover from this shock.
(Omofonmwan, 2001 )
Between 1999 and the year 2000, the Bauchi
State Government terminated the services of
teachers who were non-indigene from its teaching
services. A situation which resulted in acute
shortage of teachers in virtually all schools in
the state without a prior provision for
replacement. Same practices have also been
observed in some other states of the federation.
In a similar vein, Zamfara State government
in the year 2004 imposed fees on students that is
not only religious and indigene-ship bias, but
also gender discriminatory, such discriminatory
educational policy hampers the quest for goal
attainment in both educational and national
development.
Efforts of state government like Bayelsa and
Ebonyi, since 1999 towards overhauling and
speedy transformation of its educational system
from the primary to the tertiary level as well as
sponsorship of its indigenes for oversea
Private Schools Public Education School
Private Schools The first position of chapter three is supportive of private schools. This position feels that private schools prevent the public schools from having a total monopoly over education by offering the community an alternative choice. This choice also produces competition with public schools for student enrollment. This position views public schools as something a student must accept ...
educational programmes and payment of
students examination enrolment fees should be
recognized, applauded and emulated by others.
Exploitation and Educational Standard
A close assessment of activities in schools
have revealed that, students are made to suffer
undue amount of exploitation by school heads
at both private and public schools in the name of
enrolment fees and assurance of success in their
examination and this they do in collaboration with
the ministry officials who are suppose to inspect
and monitor activities in schools to ensure
standard compliance. Despite the fact that most
of the schools lack basic learning facilities and a
complete set of teachers, in some cases, a school
with the services of an English Language teacher
will lack that of a Mathematics teacher. This is
the more reason why one may not have the gut
to quarry the mass promotion syndrome been
practice in schools because the system itself is
not balanced.
In like manner, students are being surcharged
in a number of ways in tertiary institutions either
in the name of dues that are not accounted for,
force purchase of reading and other learning
materials at exorbitant rate or on services of
which staff are being paid for as assigned
responsibility and official provision made by the
respective institution. All these lead to lowering
of the academic ability of students.
Orientation and Educational Standard
In view of the prevalence of examination
malpractices and other related irregularities in
schools at all levels this day, the interest and habit
of reading, procurement of books and other skills
development materials has drastically dwindled
among a number of students. Interview with 50
secondary school heads of both public and
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN NIGERIA PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS 83
private, sampled in Oredo and Uhunmwode L.G.A,
Edo State and 30 senior faculty members from five
universities namely Uniben, AAU, Delsu, Unilag
and Abuja coupled with a study of 500 students
randomly sampled from 50 secondary schools in
The Essay on Education In France Students Baccalaureat System
Education in France Julia Wilkinson France is a nation focused on culture. It is in many ways the 'cultural capital of the world'. France has always been an inspiration for many artists. Due to its strong culture and other moral factors, France is a country afraid of change and its education system is subject to this fear. In France today, the education system is very similar to what it has been ...
Benin City and 300 students from 3 universities
reveals that, the two areas of main interest to
growing number of students now are: fashion and
influencing of examination results “Blocking”.
Thus, portraying the educational system more of
glamour to real learning and skill acquisition by
prospective students. This trend is also observed
to have close relationship with rising sexual
promiscuity among students
Poor Parenting /Guardance
Parenting, entails caring, protection,
guardance, provision of basic needs for a child
up keep in order for him or her to be properly
equipped to meet with the challenges of life, in
accordance with the laws of the land. In
desperation, many parents have decided to bring
in additional innovation by way of not only
involve in encouraging, but also finance activities
in and around examination venues to effect
malpractices in order to brighten the chances of
their children or wards in qualifying examination
to higher institutions and some even progress
on this act through the tertiary level of education.
Interview with two sets of university students
from various departments engaged in clustered
group discussion revealed that their parents
influence over their choice course of study has
negative effect on their level of performance.
In early 1998, during the 45th meeting of the
National Education Council (NEC) held in
Kastina, the then Minister of Education in an
address stated that this submit is to allow
stakeholders in the education sub-sector and
“Those who do not now know the extent of the
rot in the sector to sit and parley with us in order
to understand what has gone wrong with
education in Nigeria” He further added that
I believe that if Nigerians who matter know
exactly the trouble which education is passing
through they will be shocked to their marrow
because Nigeria’s education has reached a level,
which deserves the declaration of a state of
emergency (Birma,1998).
In this regard, conscious effort is needed by
The Essay on School Systems
Pros and Cons of Public and Private Education There are many educational choices for parents in todays society. A parent has the option to either send their child to a private or public institution. Florida participates in the school voucher program, which helps some parents afford to send their children to private schools. Ultimately the choice is up to the parents and there are many issues that ...
all the stakeholders in the educational sector-
Government at all level, school heads and teachers,
parents and students to bring this observed
abnormalities to normalcy – poor education breeds
indiscipline and indiscipline is the bane of the
Nigerian society today and calls for restoration of
a proper academic culture in Nigeria.
Poverty and Fall in Standard
Acquisition of Education knowledge is
supposed to help us fight against-poverty,
ignorance and disease. The process of acquiring
this well desired knowledge has gradually turned
money spinning venture for many of those in
dire need of the knowledge and skill. It is now a
source of exploitation from the service seekers
with little or no consideration for quality of service
rendered and facilities on ground, and made an
offer for the highest bidder. A trend which has
cut across all levels of education, from nursery
school to tertiary institutions.
The concept, “poverty”, refers to a situation
and process of serious deprivation or lack of
resources and materials necessary for living
within a minimum standard conducive for human
dignity and well being (NEST, 1992: 16).
Admission and being in school today is merely
an ability to pay what is demanded in monetary
terms by school operators and not on what could
be offered academically. And this in essence
widens the scope of poverty prevalence as well
as the gap between the rich and the poor which
education is designed to bridge. Little wonder
why graduates from many of the institutions
exhibits ignorance towards societal realities and
lack of creativity, due to the inadequacies
associated with the learning and training process
which is also observed to be partly because many
of those that offer this service do so with greed.
PROSPECTS OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
The Need For Research Development
Every one who cherish genuine growth and
sustainable development – Government, private
and corporate organization, non-governmental
organization and individuals should as a matter
of due responsibility encourage and finance
research programmes, inventions and mass
production of invented products as a way of
discouraging prospective students from
indulging in any form of academic irregularities,
who may not have seen any thing good or
84 L. O. ODIA AND S.I OMOFONMWAN
meaningful on the part of those who have be
hardworking and creative, research and invention
wise in terms of reward for their effort. Currently
research interest by the government at all levels
and corporate organization is nothing to write
home about.
Many who have distinguished themselves
in this area of human endeavour got frustrated
and discouraged due to lack of assistance and
encouragement resulting in brain drain to other
parts of the world, where such innovations are
well recognized and encouraged.
Despite the amount of knowledge and
experience claimed to have be acquired or possess
by some scholars, occupying some prestigious
and sensitive units as heads still try to thwart the
effort of fellow scholars and that of up coming
ones as a way of perpetuating mediocrity with
low productivity and underdevelopment of the
society as its resultant effect. Suffice to say, that
these sets of scholars have thrown modesty and
excellence (they are suppose to hold on to
jealousy) to the wind. According to Professor L.
Erinosho “There is no doubt that universities have
a pivotal role to play because they, as institutions,
bear a part of the responsibility for the collapse of
the academia. There are a number of challenges
facing universities in Nigeria today, the first of
which is to tackle declining standards which, as
was previously observed, is being orchestrated
by scholars”.
This research sub-sector that is grossly
neglected in Nigeria and play upon indiscriminately,
is the basis for the socio economic, political,
scientific and technological advancement of our
most admired developed nations of the world
today. Therefore, conscious effort towards
qualitative and durable educational system need
to be put in place for posterity in Nigeria. (its land,
mineral resources etc) and the numbers of its
people, their level of skills, altitudes to work and
desire for self improvement (NEST, 1992,8)
Considering these observed inadequacies
therefore, one may not be wrong to say that there
is no good and favourable market for researchers
in Nigeria.
Funding /Constrains
The gross under funding of the educational
sector in the country in general and the neglect
of the maintenance of the physical facilities.
Instructional and living conditions have
deteriorated in many of these schools, classrooms,
libraries and laboratories are nothing to
write home about, all leading to decline in
academic standards. Attention must be focused
on these areas too if these educational institution
are to get out of the woods and this is only
possible through adequate funding.
Since 1986 when the federal military
government introduced the structural adjustment
programme SAP, allocation of financial resource
started to fall coupled with the consistent decline
in the value of local currency till date. Which
have also consistently affected the procurement
of imported technical and scientific equipments,
books, journals and other instructional needs in
the educational system.
Education system in Nigeria today, needs a
total overhauling and restructuring, this reform
is required to improve the performance of higher
education in the country, the nation entered the
21st century insufficiently prepared to cope or
compete in the global economy, where growth
will be based even more heavily on technical and
scientific knowledge (World Bank 1994).
It is also
a well known fact that the inadequacies always
observed among many undergraduates and
graduates alike is as a result of the inadequacies
associated with the primary and the secondary
education system in Nigeria.
It is however pertinent for the government of
the day to design a suitable guidelines for funding
education. For instance, UNESCO has recommended
that 26% of the total budget of a nation should
be allocated to education. But Longe Commission
of 1991 observed that the percentage of recurrent
budgetary allocation to education in Nigeria has
never exceeded 10%. Though, the system is
expensive to keep afloat, quality however in any
form is partly a function of the total fund made
available to the system and judiciously utilized for
the purpose to which it is meant for. Funds are
required and necessary to maintain both the
human and material resources of the system in
order to achieve desired goals.
Also there is the need for an effective
monitoring of the management of fund presently
being allocated to the sector, as effort should be
intensify to improve on what is currently being
allocated to the system.
Organisational Influence on Educational
Standard
Many viewers have observed that, most
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN NIGERIA PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS 85
corporate organizations today in the country are
fond of employing series of measures which are
in effect bias and unproductive. They indulge in
an unfair selective judgment on applicants
seeking employment opportunity into their
establishment, by way of using certificate grades
as well as institution attended as a prerequisites
for interview attendance and recruitment. In some
cases, they rather prefer candidates with first
class and second class grade certificate and those
that attended the first generation universities at
the detriment of some others with lesser grade
who might be better if given equal opportunity.
This is their own way of encouraging
irregularities and malpractices in the process of
grade acquisition by prospective job seekers,
therefore compromising standard and perpetual
dependence on the services of foreign expatriates
for both medium and high tech services.
SUGGESTIONS
i Government and the private sector should
pull in more effort and resources towards the
development of education
ii Educating and re-orientation of teachers,
parents and students on the need to
discourage examination malpractice in schools
iii More vocational and technical education
centers be establish and the few existing ones
properly equipped and staffed.
iv An independent inspectorate committee
should be put in place to regularly monitor
activities in schools as the existing
inspectorate unit has seize to function
effectively
v Government should take over payment of
enrolment fees for both primary six
examination and secondary schools external
examinations.
vi Qualitative and affordable education be
made available for all
vii Schools should be properly staffed and
equipped.
viii Applicants seeking job placement irrespective
of grades obtained and institutions
attended should be given fair and equal
opportunity to compete for placement.
ix More modern learning aids such as
computers, internet web sites facilities,
overhead projectors, firms etc should be
provided in schools
x Online registration being introduced now for
school examination enrolment, by the
National Examination Body should be
encouraged, this will reduce the exploitative
tendencies by school heads.
Conclusion
In some states for the past ten years, not even
a single structure have be added to the existing
one or a significant maintenance, repairs or
replacement of learning facilities and equipment
rather the responsibility of school ownership and
funding is being shifted while playing down on
expansions of facilities to meet with the demand
of increasing population.
The monopoly enjoyed by WAEC as the
national examination body prior to 1999, (when
NECO was introduced) coupled with its
consistent broadening of examination syllabus,
its overstretched facilities due to the rapidly
increasing number of applicants could be said to
be the basis for examination malpractices in the
country. Some public secondary schools are only
known to be functional during enrolment and
examination period while most of the private
schools, lack visible structure and any equipment
required for science practicals and studies, but
enroll students with outrageous charges.
More attention is required on the part of the
government in the provision of vocational and
technical education to growing number of
prospective students seeking admission to the
few and poorly equipped centres. The less
emphasy on this aspect of education in Nigeria
presently, is also an observed causal factor in
the decline in educational standard. As it is more
of a mono system of education. For an
educational system to be classified as functional
and effective, it must be all encompassing and all
embracing. Thus, a well focused and define
pattern of educational system that is all embracing
should be fashioned out where vocational and
technical education will be well developed and
every child given the proper and kind of education
he or she desires, base on the psychomotor,
cognitive, and affective domain.
It is however, the submission of this paper
that all the stakeholders in the education industry
– Government, private school owners, school
heads, parents and students are joint collaborators
in the decline observed in the educational
standard in the country today, with the
government playing a leading role.
86 L. O. ODIA AND S.I OMOFONMWAN
Finally, since education is seen as a sine-quanon
to national development and since no nation
can develop above its educational system, it
becomes not only important but also imperative
to find some solutions to the problems of
dwindling resource allocation to the educational
sector.
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Birma, .D. 1998. “Excerpt of speech at the opening
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Erinosho, L. 1999. “The social science in Nigeria in the
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Omofonmwan, S.I. 2001. “Declining Students Enrolment
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